Chris Ayres, a well-acclaimed voice actor who is distinguished for playing Frieza in the Dragon Ball series, passed away at the age of 56.
Millions of Japanese anime fans were left devastated when Ayres’ girlfriend Krystal LaPorte shared the sad news on her Twitter account.
She wrote, "On October 18th at 8:40pm, my world went dark. Christopher Owen Ayres passed away peacefully, held close by his mother, brother, and girlfriend."
"Chris loved you all. How much he loved other people filled the vast majority of our conversations. To those of you who truly loved him back, thank you. To those of you who stayed in touch, checked on him, reminded him that he was so, so much more than his job, you were the fuel of his fight. You fed the dreams of a future that kept him going longer than any normal person could go," she added.
The voice actor was struggling from COPD --cardio obstructive pulmonary disease-- since 2017 and had been keeping his fans updated about his health on social media.
Although the cause of his death has not been confirmed yet, LaPorte's did mention his health struggles in her post. "I hope where you are, the first thing you did was take a long, deep breath with your perfect lungs and danced again," she wrote.
In addition to Freiza, Ayres also played Kei Kurono in Gantz, Everlue in Fairy Tail, Corset in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and many more.